The Year Was - 1745

Scotland was in a wee bit of an upheaval in 1745. Bonnie Prince Charlie had arrived to lay claim to the throne and the Jacobite Rising started. My ancestor Frances Pierre (or Pirie) arrived into the world during all of this tumult through Scotland and much of England.  I wonder if the Pirie family were pro or anti Charles?
The family lived in Newtyle Parish, a few miles north of Dundee, and had done so for many a year. Dundee itself, was heavily garrisoned by the Jacobites in late October of 1745.
Eventually the Pirie family moved to Dundee by way of Lundie, Auchterhouse, Backmuir and Liff .
This is one of my families that spelled their surname in a variety of ways, even amongst the siblings e.g. Pourie, Pierry, Pierre, Pyrie, Piery, Perry, and Pirie. The surname, seemingly, is of early medieval English origin and means "someone who owned or lived near a pear tree." Somewhere I also have information that the name originated in France.

I wish I could say I know lots about Frances, but I don't and I only know little bits about the straight line family I am descended from until it gets to my great great grandparents generation :)

Some other events
"God Save The King" sung for the first time in public.
Jacobite Rising which led to the Disarming Act of 1746 that prohibited the wearing of the kilt and the playing of bagpipes (till 1782).
Court of Session Act, Scotland
Highland Peasant Uprising
Jacques Duval performs first cataract surgery, France
Cattle plague - Gloucestershire
Battle of Prestonpans
First recorded ladies cricket match takes place near Guilford, Surrey
Skirmish of Clifton Moor (last land battle on English soil)
Treaty of Dresden
1st Carillon Bells in America shipped to Boston from England
Yoshimune Tokugausa - shogun of Japan resigns
Battle of Fontenoy
Schonbrunn Palace chapel is concecrated


Some famous births
Henry James Pye - poet
Johan Peter Frank - Entomologist and physician

Some famous deaths
Robert Walpole - first PM of Britain
Tomass Antonio Vitali - violinist and composer
Jonathan Swift - writer

We are about half way through our trip to Scotland. Even with the funky weather we have managed to get about a bit and enjoyed seeing lots of historical sites. Tomorrow we are planning on going back to Glasgow to visit Kelvinside. Hopefully this time round we won't get caught in any type of weather that cancelled all trains last week (we got 'home' on a bus).
So it appears that Scottish regional libraries are none too happy that they are not being given copies of the new 1911 census records. It has the potential to make it somewhat inconvenient for those people visiting, or living in, very specific areas if they do not have access on-line to ScotlandsPeople or physically to Edinburgh. I for one, did a huge amount of research at Stirling Cental Library the last few times I visited.

The Year Was - 1687

I have one uncle and occasionaly I do research on his family. One of his lines is the Gatherum family from Fife, which has a goodly number of people researching them. Janet Morgan married John Gatherum. Her grandfather was John Auchterlonie who was born 29 January 1687 in Ceres, Fife.

Auchterlonie is an unusual surname, and Othirlonay in Forfar is credited with being the geographical origin of the name. A variation of the name was first recorded in the early 13th century - 1226 John de Othirlony - "Land Charters of Forfar." Lonie is the more common modern version of the surname.

Census records
1841 - 22
1851 - 86
1861 - 104
1871 - 135
1881 - 189
1891 - 272
1901 - 304
1911 - 261

Births 1855-2009 = 907
marriages 1855-2009 = 317
deaths 1855-2009 = 823
OPR's births & christening 1538-1854 = 207
OPR's banns & marriages 1538-1854 = 139
OPR's death & burials 1538-1854 = 83
Catholic births & baptisms 1703-1992 = 2
wills & testaments 1513-1901 = 30

The village of Ceres is not far from where I was born and is currently home to The Fife Folk Museum. The men of the village were involved in the Battle of Bannockburn (1314). The village itself was built some time in the 12th century and was built round a village green (which was a rarity in Scotland).

Some world events
The Sedan Chair is introduced as public "for hire"in Edinburgh.
Scottish Declaration of Toleration (The Declaration of Liberty of Conscience)  - Moderate Presbyterians allowed to worship in private homes, Quakers allowed to worship anywhere and Catholics allowed to hold public office.
The St. Andrew Jewel made for James VII and II. It was completed in 1688.
Isaac Newton publishes "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica"
First South African vineyards established
The Parthenon in Athens is severely damaged by mortar attack. Gunpowder was being stored in the building.

Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is founded "wha daur meddle wi me'"
Guillame Amontons invents a hygrometer
Tulleys Almanac first publication

Famous births
Robert Simson - Scottish mathematician
William Stukeley - one of the founders of modern archaeology

Famous deaths
Jean-Baptiste Lully - composer
George Villiers - 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry More - English philosopher
Geminiano Montanari - astronomer
Nell Gwynn - mistress to Charles II
William Petty - scientist
Constantijn Huygens

The Year Was -1770

Way back when ............ David Lyon was born. Not exactly a direct ancestor. He was grandfather to my g-g- aunt's husband. Like many people of his time he was a weaver (often an "at home" occupation.)
David was born at Kirkton of Panbride, a parish near Dundee. The village of Panbride was not formed until about 1800. The parish, historically, has a connection with St. Bridget of Ireland. At the north end of the parish stood Panmure House (now demolished) nicknamed "the big hoose" by the locals.

Geographically the area is situated near the the mouth of the Firth, and way back in time was completely submerged.
At some point David and his family moved to Dundee. Any census records show him at Todsburn Entry, Wellgate with his wife, Ann (who hailed from Aberdeenshire). All of their children were born in Dundee.
It appears that a number of the inhabitants in the area of Todsburn were a mighty feisty bunch, probably because of their business usage of the burn - the miller and the brewer, in particular, had issue with each other.
During the time that David and his family lived in Dundee there was a number of Cholera and Typhus outbreaks due to sanitation, or lack thereof, issues.

1770 some world events
Marie Antoinette marries Louise-Auguste (Louis XVI)
James Cook discovers New Holland (Australia)
Boston Massacre
Townsend Acts repealed
Battle of Cesme
The toothbrush was invented in the 1770's :)
first Orange Lodges created
St. Andrew Square Garden (Edinburgh) created
Scottish explorer James Bruce finds the Tissisat Falls and the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia
Bubonic Plague starts in Russia
Falkland Crisis
Lexell's Comet passes by
British Linen Company switches to banking
The first eraser, made from rubber, is created
Famine in Bengal - about 10 million died

Some famous births
William Wordsworth - poet
Frederick William III of Prussia
Ludwig von Beethoven - composer
George Canning - British PM
Johann Friedrich Schubert

Some famous deaths
James Stirling - Scottish mathematician
George Grenville - PM of Britain

Something to think about - cemetery/burial records

A lot of people get aggravated trying to locate cemetery/burial records for their ancestors. If you fall into that category - that would be me - take a wider look at what epidemics, plagues, severe illnesses were going on at the time your "missing" ancestor was buried.
Many plague victims were deposited, sometimes in large groups, in special areas away from the main burial sites.
If you are lucky there might be some kind of record in existence even though there might not be a tomb stone.

The Year Was -1828

Sturrock Arthur - I love that name and it shows up in various forms amongst his descendants. He was born in 1828 near Tealing in Forfarshire. He was known as "Stroke" and as far as we can tell only two of his children lived into adulthood. His daughter Mary married William Lindsay and her brother Thomas married Wilhelmina Gunn. Thomas descendants live on this side of the "big puddle" just a few states away from me and are actively researching "their" side of the Arthur family :)
There were 5 other siblings, 4 of whom definitely died as babies (Charlotte, Arthur, James and Robert). William is still unaccounted for and I'm thinking I'll put him on my list of family to research on my trip to Scotland.
"Stroke" was my great-great-grandfather. He and his family moved around the Dundee area and show up in a different home on each census record. He was a Calenderer by profession, which means he operated machinery (calender) that used two large rollers or plates, to press and finish fabric. Later in life he was a Cloth Packer.
He died in 1907 just a few months short of his 80th birthday from "Senile Degeneration" i.e. old age. He outlived his slightly younger wife by 16 years.

So what was going on in the world in 1828?
1828 was a Leap Year
Bubonic Plague
Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister of Britain
New Corn Law in Britain
"Websters Dictionary" published
"Birds In America" vol 1 by J.J. Audoban published
Lord William Cavendish Bentinck becomes Governor-General of India
Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder
Rene Caillie is first non-Muslim to enter Tombouctou (Timbukto)
Russia declares war on Turkey
Zoological Gardens open at Regent's Park, London
Circuit Courts (Scotland) Act
Kaspar Hauser found wandering in Nuremberg
St. Catherine's dock opens in London
Andrew Jackson elected 7th president of USA
6.8 earthquake strikes Japan
"The Fair Maid of Perth" and "Tales of a Grandfather" by Sir Walter Scott published
J.B. Neilson invents the hot-blast furnace
Maitland Club founded
Burke & Hare murders in Edinburgh
"Dedham Vale" by John Constable
Glasgow Asylum for the Blind built

Some famous births
Jules Verne
William Randal Cremer - politician & pacifist
Margaret Oliphant - writer
Jean Henri Dunant - founder of Red Cross
Dante Gabriel Rossetti - painter
Nikolai Chernyshevsky - Russian philosopher
Giovanni Rossi - composer
Leo Tolstoy - writer
Henrik Ibsen -
Josephine Butler
Joseph Wilson Swan - physicist and inventor of incandescent light bulb
John Rhind - sculptor

Some famous deaths
Francisco Goya - artist
Shaka - founder of Zulu Kingdom
Dugald Stewart - Scottish philosopher
Rachel Jackson - wife of 7th US PresidentAndrew Jackson
Sophie Maria of Russia (wife of Tsar Paul I)
Carl Peter Thunberg- Swedish naturalist
Hongi Hika - New Zealand Maori chief
Gilbert Charles Stuart - portraitist
Franz Schubert - composer
William Thornton - designer of US State Capitol

I mentioned earlier in this post that the "other" Arthur's have been working on their genealogy. Thomas and his family originally settled in Omaha, Nebraska and there is a nice index site available for marriages
http://omahamarriages.wordpress.com/
There's also an index site for obituaries http://omahaobits.wordpress.com/
I found some information at both sites :)

The History of Scottish Fire Brigades

As far as I know I never had any ancestors that served in the Fire Brigade (modern day cousins, yes). If you have ancestors, then here's an interesting site, if you don't it's still interesting :)
http://www.btinternet.com/~graeme.kirkwood/

Since I am currently trolling around the general area of Dundee in my family research, I thought I'd look up what the site had to say.
Here's a wee bit of it.

Firemasters

1835 to 1837	Superintendent T. Matthew
1837 to 1845	Superintendent J. Coutts
1845 to 1870	Superintendent James Fyffe
1870 to 1873	Superintendent John W Fyffe
1873 to 1898	Captain Robert Ramsay
1898 to 1903	Captain John Ramsay
1903 to 1937	Captain James S Weir MIFireE
1937 to 1941	Firemaster William MacKay

Equipment

1904
2	Steam Engines,350 gallons capacity
1	Manual Engine (obsolute, not used)
1	70' Horsed Fire Escape
1	Horsed Hose Tender
1	General Service Waggon
1	Hand Hose Reel
4	Hand Pumps
14	Stand Pipes
23	Branch Pipes
6	Scaling Ladders
2	15'Pompier Ladders and Belts
4	Horses belonging to the Department
8,300 yds	Canvas Hose 2 1/2"

1905
Received an additional Horse Hose Tender.

Calls to fires

1904 - 146

1905 - 137

1913 - 235

There's also information about where the fire brigade was located, some salaries, staff (some locations list the names).

Some other districts also have breakdowns on the kinds of fire trucks.

 AD43 - the Romans invaded Britain and the first fire fighters were organized - basically buckets of water.

1666 - Great Fire of London. As a result Nicholas Barbon introduces fire insurance then sets up his own fire brigade. Insurances companies set up their own fire brigades but only attended those buildings insured by their clients.

1672 - fire hose invented by Jan Van der Heiden

1725 - fire engine developed by Richard Newsham

1810 - Napoleon Bonaparte creates the "Sapeurs-Pompiers"

1824 - First public fire brigade in Britain is established in Edinburgh by James Braidwood. He later took charge of the London Fire Engine Establishment which had been created in 1832. He developed the strategy of entering buildings to fight fires.

http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst925.html

1938 - Fire Services Act

1947 - Fire Services Act 1947 returns fire brigades to local authority control

It would be difficult for me to sum up the operations of fire brigades (in Britain) in a few sentences because of all the changes that have occurred over the years.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Fire_Brigades_of_the_United_Kingdom

The Scottish Fire Heritage Group http://www.ayeready.org/ has got a lot of resources in their LINKS section.

A wee hint - if you had male ancestors living in Edinburgh, in the early to mid 1800's, who were tradesmen e.g. slaters, carpenters, masons and plumbers, or sailors, they might have been volunteer firemen.

When I'm in London in a few weeks time I'll try and pay a visit to the Firefighters Memorial near St. Paul's Cathedral. Last time I was there it was pouring rain so I did not take time to stop. http://www.firefightersmemorial.co.uk/

http://www.fireservice.co.uk/history

The Year Was -1805

My main paternal line stops at 1805 and I'm hoping if I research some other events it might spark other avenues to explore.

Twas the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought. Lord Horatio Nelson died. Napoleon was crowned king of Italy.

If you want to find out if one of your ancestors fought in the Napoleonic Wars try searching at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/ I found a John McKellar from Bute, now I just have to work out if he is one of mine.

Did you know that -
Dayton, Ohio was incorporated (I had to put that one in since my husband grew up near there.)
Tangerines appeared in Europe from China.
The modern matchstick was invented by K. Chanel
Jane Austen's father moved his family to Bath.
"The Beauties of Scotland" 5 vols. by Robert Forsyth was published.
The Beaufort Wind Scale was devised.
Sir Walter Scott wrote "The Talisman".
George Greenough did a geological tour of Scotland

Famous births

Hans Christian Andersen - writer
Horatio Greenough - sculptor
Samuel Palmer - painter
Franz Xavier Winterhalter - artist and engraver
William Harrison Ainsworth - writer
Joseph Smith jr. - founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


Famous deaths
Jean-Baptiste Greuze - artist
Friedrich von Schiller - dramatist and poet
Alexander Carlyle - Scottish church leader

Another WWI casualty

I'm old enough to have grown up around a lot of people that were impacted by WWI. Last night I was doing some research on one of my great grandparents when up pops an e-mail.

Stewart Greig
son of Lyall and Jessie Stewart Greig of Dundee
Lance Corporal Royal Marine Light Infantry (CH/15295)
Killed, age 34, after HMS Hogue was sunk by U9 off the Dutch coast. 22/09/14
Commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial.
Source: CWGC Casualty Details Data Base.

That's all it said.

Stewart's mother was sister to my gggrandfather John Kirkwood Stewart. At the moment they are the only two of the 9 siblings that I have done any research on. They had an older brother and the remaining 6 were younger. My dad grew up near his Stewart cousins.

So I took a wee detour, checked out the information and added a lot to it :) Here's some of it.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ has some information.

Greig, Stewart
register # 11266
division Royal Marine Light Infantry, Plymouth Division
when enlisted: 02 December 1901
date: 19 April 1881
catalogue ref: ADM 159/79
depart: Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marine, Coastguard, and related bodies
series: Admiralty: Royal Marines: Registers of Service
piece: 10916-11464
image ref. 351/332

War was declared 4 August 1914
Stewart died 22 September 1914 in what I learned was a really famous incident (from the German perspective) at the time involving a German U9 boat and 3 ships, Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy.
Alan Coles wrote a book specifically about the incident "Three Before Breakfast"(1979).

There's a very sobering list of WWI Royal Navy and Dominion Navies casualties here http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1914-09Sept.htm (This is the September page.)

A concise write up on the event can be found at http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2005/sept/22_cruiser_force_c.htm

After reading about the ships, nicknamed "The Live Bait Squadron" and the circumstances surrounding the incident "it was an accident waiting to happen", it's a sobering thought that it only took HMS Hogue 10-15 minutes to sink and that if zig-zag protocol had been stuck too maybe many of the deaths (abt. 1400) might have been avoided. Hogue was attempting to rescue survivors from Aboukir.

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/hms_terrible.html (scroll down to the Cressy Class)

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/cressy.htm
As usual it annoys me that memorials like Chatham Naval Memorial get vandalized. We need to be more respectful of those that fought to give us freedom http://www.cwgc.org/ Many were scared, young men with inadequate training, trying to do the best they could in horrible circumstances. (IMHO)

Lance Corporal Stewart S. Greig was added to the CNM Find a Grave Memorial on May 23 2006 (#14372098). A copy of the Memorial Register is kept in the Naval Chapel of Brompton Garrison Church, other copies are kept at Chatham Library.

"In honour of the Navy and to the abiding memory of these ranks and ratings of this port who laid down their lives in the defence of the Empire and have no other grave than the sea."

Gate photo courtesy of http://nobeatenpath.com/
It's somewhat ironic that for about 2 years (in the mid 1980's) I lived 40 miles NW of Chatham and at the time never knew anything about the memorial.

The year was - 1849

I have a fondness for my g-g-aunt Ann Kay nee McKellar. I don't know a whole lot about her and have not been able to track down any descendants yet. I do know that she was a very talented stitcher because I have one of her samplers in my possession. She was a shopkeeper by profession and had 5 children, that I know of. Ann was born, raised, and died on the Isle of Bute. She did make some visits to the mainland to visit her sister who was living in Glasgow.
So I decided to use her birth year - 1849- as the first of my "The year was ...." mini series. I'm in a mood to explore Scottish history and put my relatives into some social context.
Our relatives may, or may not, have been impacted by greater events and it definitely is useful to know what was going on during their lifetime.

It's somewhat ironic that my little delve into Scottish history would find Peter Hume Brown who also was born in 1849. He is credited with being the first professor of Scottish history at Edinburgh University and slanted his classes toward placing Scotland in a European context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hume_Brown

The "Highland Clearances" were at the tale end of that sorry episode. The bareness, and barrenness, of the Highlands led to some wonderful art and writings, so I suppose some good came out of it.

There was an epidemic of Cholera, including Glasgow (where 3,777 died.) Ick :(
Thomas Carlyle visited Ireland in July and wrote about the effects of the famine.
Edinburgh and Bathgate railway opened, as it did in a number of other towns round Scotland.
600 people left the Isle of Tiree bound for Canada.
Multiple Sclerosis was first diagnosed.
California Gold Rush.
Inverurie Catholic Church was consecrated.
Rosslea Hall, Helensburgh, built for Daniel Walkinshaw.
Ness Bridge (Inverness) destroyed by a flood.
1.5% of Scotland's population was from England - 39,000.
David Livingstone was traveling from Mabotsa trying to find a waterway across the African continent.
Auchen Castle built
Tileworks opened at Kilchattan Bay, Isle of Bute.
Corn Laws abolished.
Battle of Novara
Britain annexes Punjab
Ardnamurchan Lighthouse built.
Alexander Duff, first Duke of Fife, was born
First edition of "Who's Who" published

Family births in 1849
William Robertson Lindsay (great grandfather, Angus)
William Colville (cousin, Perthshire)
Margaret Audus (cousin, Orkney)
Elisabeth Bissett (cousin, Fife)
Kay Brownson (cousin, England)
David Gardner (cousin, Stirlingshire)
David Howie (cousin, Ayrshire)
Mary Robertson (cousin, Orkney)
Ann Smith (cousin, Forfar)
William Thorburn (cousin, Bute)
Mary Ann Wilson (cousin, England)
Janet McArkley Wighton (cousin, Forfar)
Robert Charles Williamson (cousin, Midlothian)
Janet Weir (cousin, Fife)
George Watson (cousin, Scotland)
Mary Ann Watson (cousin, Fife)

map of Scotland  1849 drawn and engraved by J. Rapkin

The Original Scots Colonists of Early America" 1612-1783

David Dobson has done a ton of research over the years about Scottish immigration to the Americas.
Quote
"The Scottish participation in the settlement of America dates from the early seventeenth century, and from that time until the American Revolution probably around 150,000 Scots emigrated to the New World. During the seventeenth century many Scots settled within the English, Dutch and French colonies, while others attempted to establish independent colonies in Nova Scotia, New Jersey, South Carolina, and at Darien (Note: Darien is the Scots' name for Panama. --GB). After the political union of Scotland and England in 1707 the Scots had unrestricted access to the English plantations in America. Emigration expanded slowly but steadily until 1736 when a combination of factors in Scotland and America stimulated emigration, especially from the Highlands. Although Scots could be found throughout the American colonies from Barbados to Rupert's LAnd, areas such as Georgia, the Carolinas, upper New York, Nova Scotia and Jamaica had the greatest concentration of Scottish immigrants. This then was the general pattern of Scottish immigration and settlement in colonial America."
Source - "The Original Scots Colonists of Early America"1612-1783, David Dobson

I highly recommend reading any of his publications though be prepared for lists, and lots of them. I am currently reading "The Scottish Surnames of Colonial America."
I have the Arthur surname in my family and here's what the book says - Arthur. Probably from the Gaelic "Artair", also MacArthur, from "MacArtair". Their traditional lands were in Lorne in Argyll. Isabel Arthur, from Edinburgh, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1775, and Duncan McArthur from Jura settled in North Carolina in 1754. Linked with the Clan Campbell or the ClanMacArthur."

If you have Scottish Quakers in your lineage then check out "Scottish Quakers and Early America, 1650-1700." Very interesting.

One of his newest releases is "Genealogy at a Glance: Scottish Genealogy Research" a 4 page laminated resource for conducting research. It includes tips, publications and in-line resources. (where would most of us be nowadays in our research without on-line resources.) I'm looking forward to getting my own copy and trying it out.

Ship Passenger Arrival Records and Land Border Entries

Most people in these parts have immigrant ancestry so the topic of port entry comes up fairly regularly.
Not everyone came in though Ellis Island or the main ports of call earlier in history. Ships captains were not obligated to keep, or hand over, a list of passengers till after 1820. A goodly number of people came in through Canada or South America. Not all immigrants flowed from north to south or east to west.
A good start off point is to check the introduction page at the National Archives (Washington DC). There's lots of general background information and resources.
http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/
and
http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/passenger-arrival.html#colonial
If your British ancestry came "By Way of Canada" you might be interested in this article by Marian L. Smith
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/fall/us-canada-immigration-records-1.html
and
http://www.theshipslist.com/Research/canadarecords.htm
Another useful listing of, and about, port entries can be found at http://www.genesearch.com/ports.html
Irish Ancestry - check here - http://www.genealogybranches.com/irishpassengerlists/
History of the INS - http://www.uscitizenship.info/ins-usimmigration-insoverview.html
A few years ago I had a lengthy talk with one of the ships experts in Edinburgh. His advice to anyone researching from the US was to exhaust all possibilities here (US) first before attempting to research in the UK.

A starter tip when reading birth records

If you are going to make a photocopy of an original Scottish birth record OR make a digital copy double check the back side. Oftentimes the christening/baptism date was written on the back (mine being an example). Also check information that might have been added onto the certificate at a later date. I have a number of birth certificates where the christening dates have been written in, and signed by the minister.

I have copies of a number of OPR pages that I am revisiting. I originally got them because a specific family member was recorded on each page. One page I am currently "re-visiting" has two or three other people on it that are family but I did not know that at the time the copy was made.

I also have both copies of the Certificate of Proclamation of Banns that were posted for my maternal grandparents. The marriage date was written in after the event on both copies by the minister. One of the pieces of paperwork is "suitable for framing" :)